So how are we going to get by when fossil fuels run out?

I know, many of us are tired of the gloom and doom forecasts that hit us from all sides but don’t stop reading: Costa Rica has made great strides in making the alternatives a reality.

When I interviewed my artist friend, Deirdre Hyde for WeLoveCostaRica.com, she enthused over Costa Rica’s impressive record in producing so much of its energy through renewable resources and since the country provides electricity to 90.4% of rural houses and 100% of urban houses, it is pretty remarkable claim to make.

So just how does the country tap into such resources, what are they and are there any hidden drawbacks?

Renewable energy comes from ocean, wind, solar, hydro and geo-thermal sources as well as the bios: biomass and biogas. The ocean is exploited for tide and wave energy and most of us know something about solar energy, hydro-electric dams and windmills. Geo-thermal energy uses hot water or steam from beneath the earth’s crust.

Solid biomass energy comes from burning plant matter such as wood or crop waste, liquid biomass converts to ethanol also used as a fuel for electricity and biogas is produced by burning or fermenting other solid wastes such as gases from sewage plants, landfill or animal excreta. All rather smelly sounding but they are apparently efficient energy sources and help reduce landfill and agricultural waste Costa Rica’s Energy Program

With commendable forward thinking, Costa Rica’s national energy company, ICE (Instituto Costaricense de Energia), researched renewable energy sources over several decades identifying sites with commercial potential for wind generation and geo-thermal exploitation to supplement its main energy production through hydro-electric systems.

By the 1990s, the government was well committed to a renewable energy program and established the National Committee for Energy Conservation.

The Committee developed a Renewable Energy Export Program, grouping different energy generating projects that could then be exported to other Central American countries that are otherwise dependent on fossil fuel sources. It also set up the carbon offset initiativeto earn credits for either fixing carbon dioxide in forests or reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Costa Rica paid for the initial development costs of the system and established a sale price for the certified tradable offsets and the program has attracted international funding, which is being reinvested on high-priority national programs. By 2002, the country was selling spare energy to the neighbors and earning some $50 million.

The World Bank is currently supporting three projects under this umbrella energy program: 1. The Vara Blanca wind project to produce 9.6MW; 2. Cote 6.3MW hydroelectric project and 3. Chorotega wind project to produce 8.4MW Costa Rica’s main energy resources are hydro-electric (85%) with geo-thermal (15%) and wind (4%) supplementing hydro-production in times of low water levels.

Thus, Costa Rica is fairly well insulated against oil price fluctuations and is able to maintain relatively cheap electricity price levels that are almost the lowest in the Americas. Not only does this mean affordable energy, but by avoiding dangerous carbon monoxide emissions and sulphur dioxide and nitric oxide emissions that cause acid rain, the planet gets a break as well.

Getting The Wind Up

The first wind farm was installed in 1992 in Tejona close to huge Lake Arenal, a reservoir overshadowed by the still-active Arenal volcano. A few years later, construction began at Tierras Morenas also near to the Lake on what is now the largest wind energy plant in Latin America.

The $35 million facility was set up by two companies, Zilkha Renewable Energy and Boston based Energia Global that obtained financing from a conglomerate of banks and the Danish development agency, DANIDA.

Thirty-two windmills (or turbines) of 750 kW each were planted on the windy ridges in July 1999 and with pre-established agreements in place, the electricity is sold onto ICE to use in the national grid. Figures show that wind farms are cheaper and quicker to build than nuclear or fossil fuel energy stations and with each kilowatt hour costing between 3 to 5 cents, this works out much cheaper than polluting fossil fuel which costs around 10 cents.

Turbines need wind speeds of 9 m.p.h. so with parts of Costa Rica blowing an average of 15 – 20 m.p.h., the country is ideal for this kind of energy production and currently is the only nation in the region using such wind parks. The downside of some interference to TV reception and microwave frequencies doesn’t really apply in this remote mountain region and there is evidence that bird populations, as the only wildlife that could be endangered, learn to avoid the whirling blades.

Deep Heat

Costa Rica started investigating geo-thermal potential in Miravalles in the 1970s. Hot reservoirs were located close to the earth’s surface and in 1998 Miravalles was producing 290 MW. By 2002, geo-thermal plants were generating 15% of the country’s electricity. This makes Costa Rica an elite member of a 17-nation group offering geo-thermal energy to 46 million of their residents.

Apart from admittedly unsightly surface installations in otherwise pristine remote areas, geo-thermal programs probably have the least environmental impact of all the alternative energy sources. Hydro-thermal projects involve huge reservoirs and flooding of areas often with the displacement of resident populations and the loss of wildlife habitat and culturally important sites.

Wind turbines stand out along their breezy ridges like aliens and noise pollution can be a factor for people living nearby. Geo-thermal energy, however, doesn’t take up much space, it is quiet and doesn’t involve fleets of super-tankers shipping fuels for thousands of miles.

A geo-thermal system drills into fractures that contain the super-heated water just below certain parts of the earth’s crust in volcanically active regions, or it involves sinking wells deep into the ground to access the steam reservoirs and heat close to the earth’s core or magma.

Used directly, steam pumped up from below turns the turbines to produce electric energy. Alternatively, the rather alarming-sounding flash steam method uses that underground steam to convert cooler surface water to steam in an accelerated process that then works the turbines. Once cooled and recondensed, the water is recycled.

A third technology used in Costa Rica involves a binary-cycle system where geo-thermal steam flash boils other liquids like brines that can also be recycled once cooled. Once in place geo-thermal energy plants are usually less costly to maintain and up to 75% more efficient than oil furnaces.

Further commercial exploitation of the beautiful Rincón de la Vieja volcano has been earmarked at Las Pailas and Borinquen. The still active volcano in north-west Costa Rica close to Miravalles is already producing 18Kw from the exploration wells. That’s good news for the geo-thermal fans and they see this area doubling current geo-thermal energy supplies.

Biomass

Making energy doesn’t have to be on a huge scale and some smaller projects are having their impact too. The Costa Rica Technical Institute and the Citizen’s Energy Corporation have set up a project to help out low-income rural communities.

Animal farms produce methane – lots of it – and much remains as dangerous slurry in pits. Using cheap plastic bio-digester bags, the slurry is converted into methane gas thus getting rid of the waste and helping meet the farms energy requirements. Another neat and clean alternative that Costa Rica has openly embraced.

Water Energy Boils Over Into Controversy.

Hydro-electric energy makes up most of Costa Rica’s production. ICE started in the 1940s as exclusive controller of energy sources and oversaw construction of Arenal reservoir in the 1970s which produces 20% of the country’s electric needs.

However, the government turned over hydro-energy development to private enterprise and sensing easy profits, many investors started projects without paying much attention to the ecological consequences or the effect on local inhabitants and their needs, such as irrigation for farms and tourism.

Bitter fights have arisen between the energy producers, environmental groups and local communities as seen by the huge projected reservoir in the Boruca indigenous reserve that is being fiercely debated. It is planned as the largest hydro-electric project in Central America to churn out a huge 1,500 MW – more than all the country’s other hydro-projects together.

At an estimated cost of around $3 billion, over 25,000 hectares of land would be flooded to produce a lake with 250 sq. kms surface area. But since pre-Columbian times, these lands have belonged to various indigenous groups: the Boruca, Brunca, Rey Curré and Térraba tribes who would have to be relocated to new lands.

But that would mean losing their sacred ancestral sites and crop lands, and the new roads and infrastructure that are integral parts of such a project would have serious environmental and social effects. Water may be clean but it comes at a cost too high for some and I suppose just shows that there is always a price to be paid for enjoying the energy we tend to think is a right not a privilege.

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Written by Vicky Longland. With an honours degree in English from a Welsh university, South America seemed an obvious place to head! During thirty years in Latin America, Vicky Longland has worked as language teacher, Spanish-English translator and as travel writer for local and international publications.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.